Washington College of Law
Center For Human Rights and Humanitarian Law

RESOLUTION No 30/88

CASE 9748 (PERU)

September 14, 1988

BACKGROUND:

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights received
the following
complaint dated June 16, 1986:

On June 6, 1986 Luis Maximo Vera Aragon, professor of
education methodology
at the Universidad de San Carlos de Huamanga in the city of
Ayacucho, was abducted on
a street near his home in that city at 9 p.m. by a group of men
dressed in blue uniforms
who are believed to be members of the Peruvian Air Force. They
forced him to enter the
vehicle and fled. At the time of the arrest, cries for help were
heard in the street, but those
who tried to approach the vehicle were kept from doing so by the
shots fired at them.

Security officials deny having arrested Luis Maximo
Vera Aragon, and his
whereabouts are still unknown.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
transmitted the pertinent parts
of the complaint to the Government of Peru, in a note of June 25,
1986, requesting information
on the facts set forth in the complaint together with any
criteria that would indicate whether all
remedies under domestic jurisdiction had been exhausted in the
case in question.

The Government of Peru, in a note dated July 24, 1986,
limited its information on
the case to a statement that it had been the object of a
"duplication of procedures pending
settlement by the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary
Disappearances of the United
Nations Commission on Human Rights."

Pursuant to its regulations on July 28, 1986, the IACHR
relayed the information
received from the Peruvian Government to the complainant so that
he could submit his
observations or comments within a period of 45 days. The
complainant's note of August 4, 1986,
presented his observations concerning the Peruvian Government's
reply.

CONSIDERING:

That despite the time that has elapsed, and the
fruitless and repeated efforts of the
Commission, the Government of Peru has failed to furnish an
answer concerning the facts
surrounding the present case;

That in processing the claim on this case, and despite
the lack of acknowledgment
of its missives to the Government of Peru, the Commission has
extended deadlines in order to
avoid limiting the right of reply to which the accused State is
entitled;

That the Government of Peru, without impugning the
facts, has limited its action
to denying the Commission's competence, arguing that this case
was examined by the Working
Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances of the United
Nations Commission on Human
Rights;

That the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has
no evidence apprising
it that the situation of Luis Maximo Vera Aragon has been
clarified by the Working Group on
Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances of the United Nations
Commission on Human Rights;

That in the opinion of the Inter-American Commission on
Human Rights, it should
eschew consideration of the present case only if the matter is
pending in another settlement
procedure before a governmental organization to which Peru
belongs, and if that procedure
consists substantially of the replication of a petition which is
pending or has already been
examined and resolved by the Commission or by another
inter-governmental agency of which
Peru is a member;

That, conversely, the Commission must not refrain from
taking cognizance of the
present situation when the procedure followed by the other
organization is limited to addressing
the general situation of human rights in a State, and no decision
has been made on the specific
facts that are the object of the petition submitted to the
Commission or no steps have been taken
toward effective settlement of the alleged violation;

That according to the pertinent resolutions of the
United Nations Commission on
Human Rights--in particular, Resolution 20 (XXVI) of February 29,
1980,--a decision on the
specific facts involved in the present case does not lie within
the purview of the Working Group
on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances;

That consequently, the Inter-American Commission on
Human Rights is not
restrained from addressing the present case in conformity with
the American Convention on
Human Rights and its Regulations;

That the General Assembly of the Organization of
American States declared in
Resolutions 666 (XIII-0-83) and 742 (XIV-0-84) that "the forced
disappearance of persons is an
affront to the conscience of the hemisphere and constitutes a
crime against mankind;"

That Article 42 of the Commission's Regulations
establishes the following:

The facts reported in the petition whose pertinent
parts have been transmitted to
the government at the state in reference shall be presumed to be
true if, during the
maximum period set by the Commission under the provisions of
Article 34 paragraph 5,
that government has not provided the pertinent information, as
long as other evidence
does not lead to a different conclusion.

THE INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN
RIGHTS,

RESOLVES:

To presume the facts reported in the complaint dated
June 16, 1986, concerning
the forced disappearance of Luis Maximo Vera Aragon in a street
near his home in the city of
Ayacucho on June 6, 1986, to be true.

To inform the Government of Peru that those acts
constitute extremely serious
violations of the right to personal freedom (Art. 7) and the
right to life (Art. 4) under the
American Convention on Human Rights.

To recommend to the Government of Peru that it conduct
a complete and impartial
investigation to determine the perpetrator of the acts denounced
and, in accordance with Peruvian
law, that those responsible be punished, informing the Commission
within a period of 60 days of
the measures taken to carry out the recommendations set forth in
the present Resolution.

To inform the Government of Peru of this Resolution.

If within a period of 60 days the Government of Peru
fails to present information
concerning the measures taken, the Commission shall include this
Resolution in its Annual Report
to the General Assembly of the Organization of American States,
pursuant to Article 63, section
(g) of the Commission's Regulations.